this is a real window into why the president made this tough choice of chuck hagel. and that is we talked to people around the white house who said that the president wants fights with congress. and there's both a short-term strategy here and a long-term strategy. in the short term, the president wants to take advantage of the fact that he's the only person in these negotiations who's not running for re-election. so he can afford to be tough. he can afford to stand up for what he said. second, simple contempt by the president. these republicans who lost to him so badly in 2012, in his view, just won't take yes for an answer. so there's a little bit of exasperation by the president. but pull back the camera, and you see the bigger strategy, which is looking ahead to the midterm elections in 2014. by picking tough fights with the hill, the president uses his office to draw contrast with the republicans might make it easier for house democrats to get a majority back in 2014. it would be a long shot, but that would be bookends for the majority the president started his p